English Dub Review: Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition

Overview:

Griffith lets the darkness consume him and all hell breaks loose.

Our Take:

The demons show Griffith his inner self and all the wrongdoings he’s committed. This is proof to him that maybe he really is a demon. Griffith realizes that he has forgotten about his dream because of his Guts. He wants to rule his own kingdom, even if that means he has to become a demon to do it.

Griffith sacrifices the Band of the Hawk to realize his dream and become the demon king. The demons then start killing off the Hawks one by one. Some deaths are hard to watch, but there is one member who I never liked. I can’t say I felt bad for him, but I can say that I feel bad for Casca watching all of this. It’s unclear to me if she’s still alive or not, but I’m sure we’ll find that out in the episode.

As far as Guts knows though, all of his comrades are dead. He has to find that out the hard way by landing in a pool of their blood. This crushes Guts and it’s not hard to see why. He may have left the Hawks before, but he has grown to care for his comrades. Even when the demons tell Guts that Griffith has made the decision to sacrifice everyone else for his own desires, Guts refuses to believe this. He still tries to rescue Griffith until he comes face-to-face with the reborn demon king.

This is a heavy episode to watch. Griffith cares more about power and greed than he does about his own troops. He hardly hesitates to sacrifice them for his own benefit. Griffith may be close to Guts, but I don’t see Guts being able to forgive him for his actions. I’m excited for the showdown that’s sure to come between these two and I’m sure it will be full of conflicting emotions.